ACU Football introduces new fundraising initiative | ACU Optimist

The department of athletics announced last week the introduction of the First Down Club, a fundraising initiative to aid in raising money for the Football Excellence Fund.

Each athletic team has an excellence fund created for it, so donors can give to a specific sport or the program as a whole.

Director of athletics Lee De Leon said the initiative was part of a solution to help decrease the difference left by the football program operating at $250,000 below the median budget of the Southland Conference.

“The First Down Club is money that supplements the operating budget,” De Leon said. “We created the First Down Club to help us bridge that gap and get closer to the median [budget] in the conference. If we plan on spending a dollar over what we get from the school, then we have to raise that separately and that’s where the First Down Club comes in.”

The Football Excellence Fund covers the cost of recruiting, travel, summer school stipends, equipment and preseason meals. Deputy director of athletics, Dave Kinard said the excellence funds help donors see how they’re helping.

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